Deliberation, Contemplation
by Wijida
Summary: Kira has taken control of the station...and even a harrowed CO needs time to think..


Disclaimer: We've been through this song and dance 'thousands of hundreds' of times, and honestly I'm tired of saying this as 

Disclaimer: We've been through this song and dance 'thousands of hundreds' of times, and honestly I'm tired of saying this as much as everyone, but I must. Deep Space Nine belongs to Paramount…and that's the way it is….

Deliberation, Contemplation 

By Manda (Mizuno Ami)

Kira sat in Sisko's office, fingers tapping idly upon the desktop as she eyed his dulled, dirt-ridden baseball, autographed by one 'Babe Ruth'. He loved baseball, the game and the artifact before her- yet his disappearance into the Prophets Celestial Temple had left her to stare at the reminder and wonder just what the Prophets had in store for him. What had their plan been to take him, leaving Kas and the baby to grow accustomed to each other, to move into the new house on Bajor, alone? Kas had once offered to have her stay with the two of them- she and the baby- although Kira knew that now, more than ever, she was needed on the station.

"Ops to Colonel Kira." A new voice, one 'Ensign Juli Sirois', came over the station-wide commlink, and she broke out of her reverie to press the comm activation button on the desktop. 

"Kira here."

"Colonel, there's a subspace message coming in for you from…" There was a pause, and she 

quirked an eyebrow curiously. 

"From where, Ensign?"

"From…inside the wormhole, Sir." _Inside the wormhole.._Kira leaned forward to draw the viewscreen toward her, no longer concerned with whom the message was from nor why it came from _inside_ the Celestial Temple. Her hand pressed the panel, and the image leapt up before her eyes.

_Odo._

"Odo?" It was difficult to believe- he was there, speaking to her from somewhere inside the wormhole, but as to how… "Odo, what are you doing? I thought you were with the Great Link." She'd last left him there, to meld with his people, her eyes and his full of love as he'd liquified and melted into the lake that stretched over so much of that planet. She could still remember the day…her disappointment over losing him had accompanied her for months afterward. Still now, she stared into his eyes and saw nothing but love, and the memory.

"Nerys." He said it the way he always had, cool and…distinctively Odo. Always formal, yet it took surprisingly little time for him to relax in her presence. "How have you been?"  
"How have I been? Fine, Odo. I'm…fine." _A bit tired_, she thought, glancing into the mirror at her right. Her reflection was a bit harrowed, shadows beneath her eyes having grown deeper in the past few weeks- business at the station was difficult to handle alone, and with the death of Commander Jast, she had almost too much to handle. "Captain Sisko's been missing…there's a new security chief, Ro Laren…she's been moved into your office…"

"How have _you_ been, Nerys?" He repeated, calmly. "I know you've been busy- if Captain Sisko is missing…"

"We just lost our new station commander," Kira responded. "Commander Tiris Jast. Ezri's been awarded for bravery in the field- she assumed command of the Defiant." Odo nodded. "We're all very proud of her."

"And Kassidy?"

"She and the baby are doing fine- she's asked me to be the Godmother."

"I'm not surprised," The changling replied. "I remember you carrying the O'Brien's baby- you looked…beautiful, Nerys."

"Thank you." The awkwardness had disappated at last, and Kira felt her stiff posterior melt away inch by inch. "Odo, I've missed you. How did you-"

"I'm a 'founder'," He replied dryly, coining the phrase tagged upon his species by the Jem'Hadar and Horta. "It's a Jem'Hadar scoutship- I didn't want to risk anything by taking it through the wormhole, knowing how the Jem'Hadar have worn out their welcome…"

She nodded, leaning closer to him. The background was certainly Jem'Hadar- in fact, she was surprised at how small the craft was, despite Odo's claims that it was a scout ship.The Jem'Hadar, bred as warriors, had little use for miniscule spacecraft, and she surmised that perhaps Odo, or the founders themselves, were the reason for their keeping such crafts in their shipyards.

"Why?" was her next question, and she waited patiently for an answer she anticipated would come eventually, but with difficulty, due to the pained expression on her lovers face. He watched her, she watched him, and she felt a deep pang of remorse at having answered the call- _it may have been simpler to just let him be. I wanted to forget…but I can't…_

"Nerys, I didn't enjoy leaving you…"

_Oh, here it goes…_

"Just leave it, Odo." Her hand drifted to the screen, and he stopped mid-sentence. "Just let it go. You're not coming back…I need to accept that."

"No, Nerys. I'm coming home. That's why I contacted you. I need permission to come through and dock at Deep Space Nine."

Kira felt her heart stop momentarily, and as it resumed, the blood began to pound sluggishly in her veins, her heart thumping perilously. Odo coming back…it couldn't happen now, not when relations between the Federation, Bajor, and the Jem'Hadar were at such a crucial point. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak…her mouth remained closed, and her eyes stung with unshed tears of...joy? She wasn't certain…in fact, she was less than certain as to how she felt about it. _She_ was station commander- she had say in what happened next. If he came through the wormhole…if he came back to the _station_…

"Permission granted." Before she knew what had happened, she'd spoken, the words to allow him entrance into the Alpha Quadrant flowing smoothly past her lips. "Odo, come home to me."

"I will. I'll see you soon, Nerys." The screen went blank, and she fell back into the chair in disbelief. The process was complicated, more so than she realized, and the next responsibility which befell her was simply to inform station defenses that a Jem'Hadar ship was coming through with precious cargo- more precious than any ship before it. 

"Kira to all personnel." She raised her head, opening a station-wide channel with her right hand. "Attention all personnel. It is my duty to inform you all that in less than ten minutes, a Jem'Hadar scoutship will be coming through the wormhole- you are not…I repeat, you are not to fire upon this ship. I'll keep you updated…Kira out."

Leaning back, the Colonel spun around to gaze out the curved viewport, awaiting the view of the opening wormhole, it's swirling mosaic of pink, violet and blue a stunning picture against the fabric of space.It came as expected, the tiny ship emerging from within, and her heart constricting along with her throat as it began to accelerate, approaching the station and winding down eventually to thrusters. 

_Odo…_She mused, following the ship with moist, teary eyes. _Welcome home…_

_ _

_-Fin_


End file.
